Mobile Crane Rental in Arlington, TX
A mobile crane is a telescoping hydraulic boom built onto a truck that drives itself to your site, and four things decide whether one can make an Arlington pick: the load chart, the maker's table of what the crane may lift at each boom length and radius; the radius, measured level from the crane's turning centerline to the middle of the hanging load; the ground under the outriggers, the legs that swing out and take the crane's weight off its tires; and what is overhead, from Oncor lines to airport airspace. We rent truck cranes operated, with the operator billed by the hour, or bare, with your own operator. Below: makers' figures, prices, Texas road rules, the City's street permit and the weather.
$300 to $700 per hour, national mobile crane average (rental marketplace crane guide, April 27, 2026) · full pricing guide
The truck crane examples here run from Grove's TMS500-2, rated at 40 USt, to Tadano's GT-1200XL-2, which Tadano's February 2025 datasheet rates at 120 US tons. Between them, Link-Belt lists its 65|HT at 65 USt at a 7-foot radius, with a main boom of 36.8 to 115 feet and a 171-foot maximum tip height. Grove's product guide gives the TMS500-2 travel speeds up to 65 mph, and Link-Belt says the 65|HT travels fully equipped at under 84,000 lbs with an 18,400 lb counterweight on board. That suits a job where the crane drives in, picks and leaves: roof trusses, a hot tub over a house or a tree, which national cost guides price a crane for, or commercial picks in the 5,000-acre Great Southwest Industrial District the Handbook of Texas places between Arlington and Grand Prairie.
Truck crane pricing runs by the hour with a minimum. In a crane price guide an online equipment-rental marketplace published on April 27, 2026, mobile cranes average $300 to $700 an hour nationally, and hourly rentals "require a daily minimum number of hours" that "can range from three to eight hours." In the same guide a small crane runs $200 to $500 an hour and a 50-ton crane $150 to $300, and an operator adds "$50 to $150 per hour to the standard rental costs". ThePricer.org (updated November 12, 2025) says "Most providers bill portal to portal, which includes travel from yard", so drive time is crane time. Neither prices Arlington. On sales tax, the Comptroller's Rule 3.294 says "Receipts from the lease of tangible personal property without an operator are taxable", while a crane and operator on one bill is presumed a service and untaxed unless the work is itself taxable. Our quote shows every line, and the published crane price ranges sit side by side on one page.
Federal and state rules decide who runs the crane and how close it works to a line. Under OSHA's operator rule, section 1926.1427, "The employer must ensure that each operator is trained, certified/licensed, and evaluated". It governs the operator we send on an operated rental, as it does every crane operator, and your operator on a bare rental; NCCCO is one accredited certifying body. Near lines, OSHA section 1926.1408 says to "Determine if any part of the equipment, load line or load" "could get closer than 20 feet to a power line." If so, its options are "Deenergize and ground", a 20-foot clearance, or "Table A clearance." Table A gives 15 feet at 138 kV, the voltage of the Division line Oncor plans within Arlington and Grand Prairie. Texas Health and Safety Code section 752.004 keeps equipment out of the zone "within six feet of a high voltage overhead line" unless it is guarded as section 752.003 sets out, by an arrangement with the line's operator, who must be told "at least 48 hours before the work begins."
Heat and gusts set the working day here. NOAA's 1991-2020 normals give DFW Airport an average of 20.3 days a year that reach 100 degrees F, while the Weather Service's provisional count for 2026 at DFW is 52. Gusts matter more to a raised boom: NOAA data show a 5-second gust of 89.0 mph at DFW in August 2025, and Arlington Municipal Airport logged 77.0 mph in May 2024. Liebherr's customer magazine says crane load charts "generally apply in gust speeds of up to 9 m / s (20 mph)", and OSHA section 1926.1417 says "The competent person must adjust the equipment and/or operations to address the effect of wind". A lift stops when the operator or that person judges the weather unsafe, and we reschedule it. Keep the setup spot level, firm and clear of parked cars.
Let us know the load's weight, its starting point and its landing point, how far and how high those are from where the truck can park, the ground, any wires overhead, the street address and the day. Our free written quote lists the crane size, operated or bare, the hourly minimum, travel, and any permits, mats or rigging, each priced, with any tax. Before the date is fixed we check OSHA's line clearances and the Texas six-foot law, run the FAA notice criteria near the area's airports, and name the City permits that apply. The crane permit guide explains Arlington's street rules; next door, Grand Prairie's construction package says "No lane closures on major roadways permitted before 9:00 am or after 3:00 pm.", as the Grand Prairie crane page notes.
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Four Example Truck Cranes and Their Published Figures
Four truck cranes from four makers show how wide the class runs. Every figure comes from the maker's own model page or datasheet, metric where the maker publishes only metric, and not listed marks a figure the maker's page does not give. Boom lengths are in feet unless marked in meters.
| Example truck crane | Max capacity | Main boom (ft unless noted) | Max tip height or radius | Road speed | Weight on the road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Link-Belt 65|HT | 65 USt at 7 ft | 36.8 - 115 | 171 ft tip height | not listed | under 84,000 lb with counterweight |
| Grove TMS500-2 (102 ft boom) | 40 USt | 32 - 102 | 134.8 ft tip height | up to 65 mph | 61,385 lb GVW |
| Liebherr LTF 1060-4.1 | 60 t (metric page) | 10.20 - 40.00 m | 56 m hoist height | not listed | 92,600 lb gross, four axles |
| Tadano GT-1200XL-2 | 120 US tons | 41.0 - 167.3 | 185 ft max radius | 65 mph | 89,900 lb GVM, 8 x 4 drive |
These are each maker's top published figures for an example model, not what it lifts at your radius; the load chart for the boom, radius and outrigger spread on the day decides that. We list the models to show the class, not as machines we own.
Signs a Truck Crane Fits Your Arlington Pick
A truck crane fits a pick measured in hours, on a site it can drive onto and stand on. Most of these show from the curb before you call, and each comes with the rule or figure that makes it count.
- The load is one piece with a published weight, so the operator can read the chart at your radius before leaving the yard.
- The crane can stand on pavement or firm, level ground near the pick, with room to extend its outriggers the way the load chart specifies.
- Reaching the pick means parking the crane on a City street, alley or sidewalk, and that brings in the traffic control permit and its lead time.
- An Oncor line runs within 20 feet of where the boom, load line or load could swing, which starts OSHA's power line steps.
- The job is a one-day pick such as roof trusses, a hot tub or a tree, which cost guides price a crane for.
Driving a Truck Crane Through Tarrant County Under TxDMV Rules
A truck crane wider or heavier than Texas legal limits moves on a permit from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, and in Tarrant County it skips the weekday rush-hour curfew. TxDMV's no-permit limits are 8 feet 6 inches wide for any vehicle but a passenger car, 14 feet high, and "Gross - 80,000 pounds maximum". Past that, TxDMV sells a $100 annual permit for unladen lift equipment, a class the Texas Administrative Code defines to include "a crane"; under it a crane may run at "120,000 pounds gross weight", with "25,000 pounds single axle" and "46,000 pounds tandem axle group", and up to 10 feet wide. Tadano lists its GT-1200XL-2 at 89,900 lbs gross vehicle mass, above the legal 80,000, so a crane like it cannot travel without a permit. The curfew list TxDMV made effective on September 30, 2025 gives Tarrant County "7 a.m. - 9 a.m.
& 4 p.m. - 6 p.m." on "M-F" for all oversize vehicles, marked "Mobile cranes are not affected". Route limits still bind: restriction 63376 holds the I-30 and SH 360 ramps in Arlington to 14 feet 6 inches high, and restriction 69386 caps the move from I-20 westbound to US 287 southbound at 14 feet wide. Our Kennedale crane page covers work in that city, which its development corporation places on I-20 and Highway 287. The TxDMV annual crane permit page lists the permit's limits.
Reading a Truck Crane's Load Chart Before You Book
A truck crane's headline tonnage is not what it lifts at your radius. Manitowoc defines the headline figure as the capacity "obtained at minimum radius with basic minimum boom length of a crane", which is why Link-Belt's 65|HT specifications state 65 USt at 7 feet. SANY puts the rule behind every chart in one line: "the larger the lifting radius, the lower the maximum lifting capacity." Three adjustments follow.
Weight hanging below the boom tip counts: of hook blocks and slings, Manitowoc writes, "Their total weight must be subtracted from the rated load to obtain the weight that can be lifted." The maker also says users must de-rate for "soft or uneven ground, out-of-level conditions, wind, side loads". And under OSHA section 1926.1404 the outriggers must be "either fully extended or, if manufacturer procedures permit, deployed as specified in the load chart", so a crane that cannot spread fully on a narrow street works, where its maker permits, from the chart for its shorter spread. OSHA section 1926.1417 keeps charts "readily available in the cab at all times for use by the operator" and bars running past rated capacity; with no reliable weight, the operator checks whether the load "exceeds 75 percent of the maximum rated capacity" "at the longest radius that will be used during the lift operation."
Setting Up on a City of Arlington Street: the Traffic Control Permit
If the crane, its outrigger pads or its cones will block a lane or a sidewalk in Arlington, the City's Temporary Traffic Control Permit applies. The City code's section 6.06, which Ordinance No. 25-065 added in 2025, says "A person must obtain a Permit under this Section from the City to temporarily restrict vehicular or pedestrian access". A closure is exempt when it "is for a period of time that is less than four (4) hours on a single day", though not if the same spot is closed again "within a period of thirty (30) days or less". You apply to the Public Works Director "at least five (5) business days before the proposed temporary restriction or detour", with the plan, times, diagrams and insurance and bond papers. The permit form adds "Please allow a minimum of three business days for review.", a $50.00 Traffic Control Plan Fee and a "$500/day fine for failure to comply." TxDOT must also approve any closure on a state highway.
The City's Right-of-Way Manual keeps Thoroughfare Development Plan streets free of interference "during the hours of 7:00 a.m. through 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. through 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday." It also says "No work shall be permitted within the Entertainment District on the business day preceding the date of any event" that counts as a special event, and calls for "Plywood or equivalent products" to keep equipment from rutting pavement. The City's Temporary Traffic Control Permit page explains online plan submission.
Operated or Bare, and Which Crane Class to Book
Two choices set the price and the paperwork: who sits at the controls, and whether the job fits a truck crane's chart at all. Most hourly figures below are national ones from that same April 27, 2026 marketplace guide, not Arlington quotes.
Operated truck crane, billed hourly
We send the crane and its operator, to whom section 1926.1427 applies as it does to every crane operator. The guide lists the mid-sized class at $400 to $750 an hour operated, and Rule 3.294 presumes one combined charge a service. Suits a contractor with a day of picks and no crane operator on staff.
Bare truck crane rental
You rent the machine and seat your own operator, who must meet section 1926.1427, certified "based on equipment type, or type and capacity." Bare, the guide lists that class at $250 to $600 an hour, a taxable rental. Suits a firm that employs an operator for that type and size.
Step up to an all-terrain crane
When the chart runs out at your radius, a larger all-terrain crane, with more boom and counterweight, is the next step, as the all-terrain crane page explains. Large cranes are listed from $500 to $1,500 hourly in the same guide. Suits heavy or long-reach picks.
Step down to a boom truck
For lighter loads, a boom truck is the smaller class to price first; boom trucks run "$100-$300 per hour" in ThePricer.org's national guide, updated November 12, 2025. Suits light, short-reach picks such as roofing material or a sign, once the weight and radius fit its own chart.
Mobile Crane Rental FAQs
What does a truck crane cost per hour around Arlington?
Nationally, about $300 to $700 an hour, the range a rental marketplace's April 27, 2026 crane guide gives for this class, with a daily minimum that "can range from three to eight hours." No published source gives an Arlington rate. HomeGuide (written December 22, 2025) says "Crane rentals with operators cost $350 to $1,500 minimum for 4 to 6 hours." Travel from the yard is usually billed too, per ThePricer.org. Our free written quote prices your pick line by line.
If I rent a crane without an operator, who is allowed to run it?
An operator who meets OSHA section 1926.1427, under which the operator's employer must see that each operator is trained, certified or licensed, and evaluated on that equipment. A certificate from an accredited testing organization "is valid for 5 years", and NCCCO is one such body. On an operated rental, the same section covers the operator we send. OSHA's Cranes FAQ says crane lessors who supply operators have duties too.
How close can a crane get to an Oncor power line?
For lines up to 350 kV, OSHA section 1926.1408 lets the crane work with everything kept 20 feet away, or at the Table A distance once the voltage is known, which is 15 feet at 138 kV. Until the utility confirms otherwise, the employer "must assume that all power lines are energized". Texas law forbids work "within six feet of a high voltage overhead line" until an arrangement with the line's operator is in place, the party doing the work pays the line operator's "actual expense", and a violation can bring "a fine of not less than $100 or more than $1,000". Oncor's Electric Service Guidelines add: "Contractors and owners are legally responsible for the safety of construction workers under this law."
Will a crane lift on a windy day in Arlington?
Only within the maker's limits and the competent person's judgment. Liebherr says that when the current wind speed exceeds the permissible wind speed from the load chart, "the crane operation must be halted". The National Weather Service's Wind Advisory covers "Sustained wind speeds of 30 to 39 mph lasting for 1 hour or longer", and its DFW records make April the windiest month on average. If wind stops a lift, we reschedule; the quote sets standby charges in advance.
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